Faulty power lines cause major outage, KP High lets out early

Thursday

Mar 27, 2014 at 1:45 PMMar 27, 2014 at 1:45 PM

By Heather Gillis Harrishharris@wickedlocal.com

FOXBOROUGH -- Faulty power lines caused a major power outage that impacted parts of Foxborough and sent King Philip High School students in neighboring Wrentham home early earlier today.Foxborough Fire Chief Roger Hatfield said, two wires on a pole located on South Street burned out in Foxborough at about 10:30 a.m."National Grid was immediately called in," he said. "They responded quickly and did a great job."Hatfield said it is unclear as to what caused the power lines to burn out."Itís just a fluke," he said. "At first we received reports that a tractor trailer took the wires down, but that is not what happened."South Street was closed for two hours while crews addressed the situation. About half of Foxborough and parts of Wrentham were without power during the two-hour span, Hatfield said. In some parts of Foxborough, it took a bit longer to restore, he added."More than half of the town was out," Hatfield said. "Thatís one of our major feeds."The same power lines that came down in Foxborough also affected parts of Wrentham, including King Philip High School.School staff realized something was wrong when kitchen equipment started to overheat, said Superintendent Elizabeth Zielinski.The school had some power, but wasnít receiving enough to sustain all of the necessary systems, she said.Zielinski said the school was forced to shut down power throughout the school, including the fire suppression system.Because the fire suppression system was turned off, fire crews came to the school to monitor the situation, she said.Without an operating sprinkler system in place, or power, students were released at 11:45 a.m, Zielinski said. Despite being sent home early, the day does count towards the 180, state mandated school days, she said.Power was slowly restored at King Philip High School throughout the day, and Zielinski said the school electrician and staff will assess if the outage caused any permanent damage.Students are expected to return to school tomorrow, Friday, March 28.